There are more than a few reading me lately that think that I am addressing them personally.
This is both so and not so. The first person I address when I write is myself. I am my primary audience. I am attempting to be the best writer I can be. That is my only agenda.
I have opinions. They are enough for me. I do not expect others to adopt them. Why would they? They are mine. Get your own opinions.
I do not think anyone, and I mean anyone, is better than me. In any way. I do not have an axe to grind against a class, a religion, an ideology, a profession, or any specific human being. I do not wish anyone ill will. Not even Trump.
And I have despised that man with an incandescence that shocked me. Until I thought about what it must be like to live inside that skull. All that rage. All that indignation. All that sense of superiority. Oh, I was pissed for a reason.
Because I possess at least that much. But I know how to let it go. With a laugh and a smile. That’s real riches. That’s real skill. That’s real acumen. No one is an expert at this. Not even me. I still feel it. I do try and use it as a positive basis for my writing.
Sometimes I fuck up. Sometimes I piss people off. But ask yourself, what are you really mad at? Who are you really mad at?
Fighting is stupid. I know. I’ve been in so many fucking fights, fights I did my damndest to avoid. I still try and avoid it. And that has been my biggest fight. My aversion to conflict.
I will always talk back. I always have. I just learned to keep it to myself for 50 years. I’m not going to anymore.
I do not wish to offend. I do not wish to intrude. Don’t like what I write? You don’t have to read it. Don’t want my opinion? Don’t ask for it.
This is what I do. Amazing how well it works. This is my place. My house. I pay for it. Or rather, my wife does. I have no pride about these things. I am a kept man. I live in a luxury I have not earned, in many ways.
I will write what I please. I do not do feuds. Feuds are stupid.
Something does occur however, if multiple people think I am talking about them…isn’t that an indication of good writing?
So go ahead. Say what you want to about me. Make me your villain if that is what you desire. You are not mine. No one is. Oh wait. That’s not right.
I know what I am.
Hero; n. 1. A fool, properly motivated.
a. Said fool, fortunate.
b. Said fool, deceased.
c. Said fool, both fortunate and deceased.
2. A thin layer, once scratched, revealing a villain.
3. A villain, properly backlit.
4. A broad category covering villains past, revised and updated.
5. A broad category covering noble ancestors, ignored and minimized.
6. A convenient category one places those that do what one cannot or will not.
7. A citizen, rightly informed.
Peace. Love. Understanding.
If you are not down for these things than I am not down with you.
It really is just that simple.
